Secondary Dominants

The 5th chord in a series (Chord V) is also called the DOMINANT chord as it is crucial in most pop/rock music (and even
classical) chord progressions – the simplest of songs use I-V-I.

When placing a 7th on top of the V chord you get a “Dominant Seventh” chord – this is different to the other two types of
chords – Major 7th and Minor 7th. It’s actually a mix of the two – 1 3 5 b7 is a Major Chord on the bottom with a Minor 7th on
top.

Below you can see the 5th (Dominant) chord in the key of D major being turned into A7 (called A dominant 7th)

D E F# G A7 B C# D
I ii iii IV V vi vii°
I
Below you can see the 5th (Dominant) chord in the key of A major - this is E7. In the Brian Setzer song, the use of an E7 chord
in the place of Em is known as a SECONDARY DOMINANT because it has been borrowed from the Dominant of the original
key (it’s the “dominant of the dominant” which is why the term secondary dominant name makes sense)

A B C# D E7 F# G# A
I ii iii IV V vi vii° I
SECONDARY DOMINANT SEQUENCE

D E7 F# G A7 B C# D
I ii iii IV V vi vii°